Home Office

Guantanamo Bay: Detainees

lord laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many British citizens have received compensation following a period of detention at Guantanamo Bay; and how much has been paid out in total.

baroness williams of trafford: In November 2010, the Government secured a mediated without prejudice settlement of the civil damages claims brought by detainees held at Guantanamo Bay (Official Report col. 752).The details of that settlement were made subject to a legally binding confidentiality agreement. We are therefore unable to confirm the terms of that settlement agreement, including the number of individuals involved, their nationalities, or the level of payments made.

Department for International Trade

Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

lord greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of (1) the current state of play of the TTIP trade negotiations, and (2) the prospect of reaching agreement.

lord price: The UK has always been supportive of deepening trade relations between the US and the EU and continues to support an ambitious, wide-ranging TTIP deal which opens markets. It is for the Commission and the new US Administration to discuss TTIP in the first instance. We welcome the significant progress that has been made to date.A joint EU-US report was published on 17 January 2017 on progress made in the TTIP negotiations. The Government was notified by the Commission last week that a more detailed technical report is now available, which we are in the process of making accessible to MPs and Peers in the UK’s national TTIP Reading Room.

HM Treasury

Capital Investment

lord myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government (1) what interest rate they use for discounting future income and expenditure when evaluating capital projects; (2) which government department is responsible for determining the rate; (3) what guidelines they use; and (4) when the interest rate was last changed.

baroness neville-rolfe: The government uses a discount rate to evaluate capital projects known as the Social Time Preference Rate. This rate is used to convert costs and benefits that occur at different points in the future to ‘present values’ thereby allowing comparison. This rate is currently 3.5% and tapers depending on the life of the appraisal period, as set out below. Period of years0–3031–7576–125126–200201–300301+Discount rate3.5%3.0%2.5%2.0%1.5%1.0% These rates are set by HM Treasury through the Green Book, which is publically available central government best-practice guidance on appraisal and evaluation. The rate was last changed in 2003.

Financial Services: Greater London

lord patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the remarks by Dr Andreas Dombret, executive board member of the German Central Bank, that post-Brexit London would remain "the most important financial centre in Europe".

baroness neville-rolfe: The Government welcomes Dr Dombret’s assessment of London as the European hub for financial services and shares his vision of the UK’s continuing strength and status in this vital industry. We are absolutely clear that a flourishing UK financial services sector is in everyone’s interests. At present 60% of European capital markets business is conducted through the UK and in 2015 our firms provided more than £1.1 trillion of lending to the EU. In addition to a world-class legal system and expertise in accountancy and project management, the UK is home to leading regulators and hosts financial markets of breadth, depth and concentration. This is unmatched in Europe and almost anywhere in the world. Therefore, an enduring relationship in financial services is in the mutual interest of both the EU and the UK. This is one of the areas where a bold and ambitious agreement will be sought. We want to ensure that British companies have the maximum freedom to trade with and operate within European markets – and to agree mutual arrangements that let European businesses do the same in Britain. As we prepare to leave the EU, we are determined to preserve this status and to reach an agreement that will allow the UK to provide the finance that helps the European economy grow and create jobs. In any event, London will continue to represent an attractive place to do business, and will continue to be a world-leading, global financial centre.

Department for International Development

Iraq: Humanitarian Aid

the lord bishop of coventry: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bates on 20 February (HL5245), which faith-based organisations in Iraq have applied for access to UK funding through the UN-managed Iraq Humanitarian Pooled Fund.

lord bates: Organisations can apply for funding from the Iraq Humanitarian Pooled Fund (IHPF) after completing an assessment to make sure that they have the capacity to deliver high quality humanitarian assistance. A list of all the organisations which have completed the Iraq Humanitarian Pooled Fund capacity assessment is available on the UN OCHA Iraq website. A list of all organisations, including faith-based organisations, that received funding from the Iraq Humanitarian Pooled Fund is published on the cbpf.unocha.org website. OCHA do not publish information about organisations which applied for funding but were unsuccessful.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Sewage: Water Treatment

lord berkeley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they plan to review the National Policy Statement (NPS) for Waste Water, published on 9 February 2012, in the light of the statement in that NPS that it was expected that the Secretary of State would review the NPS approximately every five years.

lord gardiner of kimble: The Government has not yet taken a decision as to the timing of any review of the waste water National Policy Statement.

Animal Welfare

baroness smith of basildon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 16 January (HL Deb, col 7), how many local authorities have enforced animal welfare legislation in each year since 2010.

lord gardiner of kimble: Local authorities have powers under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to enforce animal welfare and, at a district level, local authorities regulate certain licensed activities involving animals. At a county level, local authorities also carry out various functions in relation to on-farm animal welfare. The Government does not hold records as to what degree individual local authorities enforce animal welfare laws. It is up to each local authority to decide what level of enforcement they will provide in relation to animal welfare based upon local priorities.

Animal Welfare: Prosecutions

baroness smith of basildon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prosecutions for animal cruelty there have been in each year since 2010.

lord gardiner of kimble: The number of defendants proceeded against at Magistrates Courts for offences under Section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, in England and Wales, from 2010 to 2015, can be viewed in the table. Data for 2016 is planned for publication in May 2017.Defendants proceeded against at Magistrates Courts for offences under S4 Animal Welfare Act 2006, England and Wales, 2010 to 2015 (1)(2)2010201120122013201420151,0771,2771,3851,2661,016755(1) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice.